ORANGE SPHERE UFOs FLY
OVER SOUTHERN SPAIN

A three-day UFO flap rocked the Andalucia
region in southern Spain this week, with numerous
sightings of glowing orange spheres.

On Monday, February 9, 1998, Juan Valiente
was at work at Fabrica de Cementes Ltda., a cement
plant in Torredonjimeno when he spotted a mysterious
orange glow at 8 p.m. Looking directly at it, Valiente
saw "a spherical orange object rising in circles above
the plant."

The following day, Tuesday, February 10, 1998,
at 1:42 p.m., Jose Antonio Martini Framit and his friend,
Mark Sanders, were driving north on autovia Jaen/Granada
near Pico de Magina. Both men are members of the
Sociedad de Investigaciones Biofisicas (S.I.B.), a UFO
study group.

"Halfway down the road we saw an incredible
sparkle," Jose reported. "Like a flash of lightning that
illuminated everything. My first reaction was to look out
the side window, and there it was. In that moment, I saw
a very vivid, orange-colored sphere. It was not the first
time I had seen one, but this time the object was much
more distinct."

He estimated the UFO's size at that distance to
be 15 centimeters (7 inches) in diameter. "The altitude
was approximately 500 meters (1,650 feet), and I saw it
below the clouds," he reported. "The velocity was very
high, comparable to a meteor. Its flight path was totally
horizontal. Mark did not see the object, only the glow."

The UFO was heading southeast. Jose stopped the
car, turned and followed, hoping to keep the object in
view. "We followed in the same direction, but it
disappeared before Mark could see it."

The next night, Wednesday, February 11, 1998,
at the Fabrica de Cementes plant in Torredonjimeno,
night watchman Manuel Lopez was in his guard shack
at 7 p.m. when "something began rattling the windows."
Reddish-orange light poured through the windowpanes.

Rushing outside, Lopez watched the orange-sphere
UFO fly away at high speed. "I heard the loud clap of
its departure and felt the vibrations," he told investigators.

At 1:40 a.m., Officer Baldomero of the Policia Local
was on patrol in town with another policeman when
"they saw 'an immense luminosity' of a white color that
flew through the night sky. The light lasted between
15 and 20 seconds."

Nearly a minute later, "they heard a tremendous bang
of four seconds' duration. They did not observe an object.
The light appeared in the north." The officers reported the
incident to the local cuartel of the Guardia Civil (Spain's
police--J.T.)

MYSTERIOUS SKY BOOMS HEARD
AROUND MOBILE, ALABAMA

Mobile County 911 was flooded with calls. Most of
the complaints came from Navco, Cottage Hill, Jackson
Heights and Tillman's Corner on the south side of the
city.

According to the Mobile County Sheriff's Department,
a deputy at the substation in Theodore, Alabama
(population 6,509), on Highway 59 about 10 miles
(16 kilometers) south of Mobile, "saw the walls shake
when a boom sounded. No one was injured and no
major damage was reported."

Meteorologists at the National Weather Service had
no explanation for the noises. The U.S. Geological
Survey's Earthquake Center in Boulder, Colorado said
the sound was not caused by earthquakes.

A spokesman for the U.S. Air Force said the sonic
booms might have been caused by USAF supersonic
fighters "traveling from Texas to Florida." He added that,
under "certain weather conditions," a sonic boom may
be carried long distances over water.

Mobile is located on Interstate Highway 10 at the
head of Mobile Bay, approximately 170 miles (272
kilometers) south of Montgomery, the state capital.

(See the Miami Herald for February 6, 1998.)

(Editor's Comment: Mobile Bay is thirty miles long.
That's a long way for a sonic boom to travel from the
Gulf of Mexico.)

RED UFO TRAILS A JETLINER
SOUTH OF LOS ANGELES

On Tuesday, February 10, 1998, at about 8 p.m.,
James D. was relaxing at his home in Dana Point,
California (population 31,896), about 35 miles
(56 kilometers) south of Los Angeles, when he spied
a most unusual UFO.

"Every night I try to go out in my yard and smoke
a cigar," James reported. "At about 8 p.m. I witnessed
a red object keeping pace with a southbound
commercial airliner. It seemed to be off the left wing
somewhere between 300 and 500 yards. You could
clearly see that it was not a plane, as it was much
smaller" than the jetliner.

"The jetliner was going in a southeasterly direction,
probably ten miles (16 kilometers) offshore," he added.
"It flew at between 15,000 and 20,000 feet (4,545 to
6,060 meters) The object appeared off the left wing
from where I was. It was at the same speed for
approximately four to five miles before it disappeared.
It was a red sphere. It almost looked as if it was
chasing the plane, because the airliner was accelerating,
but the object kept pace. As it passed to the south, you
could definitely see that the object was separate from
the plane. It (the UFO) just seemed to disappear into
thin air. The only sound I heard was the engines of
the airliner." (Email Interview)

BLUE UFO SEEN HOVERING
OVER DENVER, COLORADO

On Tuesday, February 3, 1998, at 9:47 p.m.,
Jonathan A. "was heading south on I-25" Interstate
Highway 25 in Denver, Colorado (population 467,610)
when he spotted something strange in the sky.

"I saw a bright blue light in the sky that was
hovering for about one minute," Jon reported. "There
was no structure (on the UFO), and the sky was
clear. It looked by me that it could have been just
east of the Highlands Ranch. I could not saw just
how far away it was, but it was as big as my thumb,
so it was close."

"I would say it was about 20 degrees above the
horizon," he added. "I stopped to watch. Then it
moved fast--straight up--and it was gone. I drove
further east but had no luck seeing it again. Who
knows what it was? All I know is that I saw it, and
I could not identify 'it' or the flight pattern it took."
(Email Interview)

UFOs AGAIN ACTIVE AROUND
GRATIS, OHIO

The small town of Gratis, Ohio (population 998),
at the junction of Highways 725 and 503 approximately
97 miles (155 kilometers) southwest of Columbus, is
once more the scene of UFO activity.

On Thursday, February 5, 1998, at 8:30 p.m.,
Timothy J. reported that "his brother came in the
house and stated that there was a UFO outside."

Heading outdoors, Tim spotted the object to the
southeast of their house. He described it as "a
triangular shape" that "had a glow that contrasted
against the sky. It had a light at each corner and three
more at the center. Two of the outside lights flashed
alternately with one center light. It made no sound and
flew extremely slow." (Many thanks to Tim Hagemeister
of NACOMM for this report.)

On November 19, 1997, at around 5:30 p.m., Edward J.
reported, "My wife and daughter have seen the strange
objects in the southern sky near Camden and Gratis.
Today I saw those lights. There were four lights in
position. Two of the lights were almost on top of the
others. One of the two was much larger. The four lights,
when you looked at them, you could tell they were all
together in a group, being set apart from all the others
such as stars and aircraft. My daughter states that she
sees these lights frequently and calls them 'the Gratis
UFOs.'" (Many thanks to Kenneth Young, public relations
director of Tri-State Advocates for Scientific Knowledge,
T.A.S.K., for this report.)

TUBULAR ORANGE UFO SEEN
OVER DUNKIRK, NEW YORK

In early February, Jason R. was staying at his
grandparents' home in Dunkirk, New York, located on
the shores on Highway 5 approximately 45 miles
(72 kilometers) southwest of Buffalo, when he heard
a strange whirring noise.

"I was sitting on my grandmother's front porch
one night and heard a type of whizzing sound coming
from the sky," he reported. "At first I thought it was
a plane crashing. As I looked around for several
minutes, I saw a bright orange stick-figured object
fly over the house. It looked like one of those
roadside red flare things. It was as big as or
bigger than the house across the street."

Jason immediately went indoors to tell his
family. As the UFO flew around overhead, it was
observed by the boy, his sister and both grandparents.

(Many thanks to Kenneth Young of T.A.S.K. for
passing on this report.)

UFO FLAP SWINGS INTO
HIGH GEAR IN CHILE

January 1998 was a big month for UFO sightings
in Chile.

On January 4, 1998, Pablo Marinan and his family
spied a UFO over their hometown of Angol, located
400 kilometers (250 miles) south of Santiago de Chile,
the national capital.

"The object was 55 degrees above the horizon and
southeast of us," Pablo reported. "The UFO was oval
in shape, a very bright light with a dark structure around
it. The object was vibrating. At arm's length, it was
about two centimeters (one inch) long."

On January 17, 1998, at 9:19 p.m., Rodrigo Bravo
saw "a very bright white/gold light come from the south
at high speed. It stopped in mid-air over Santiago
(above the Corrillos section) for about ten seconds,
then it shot back to the south from where it came."

On January 24, 1998, Sergio Rojas and four friends
drove out to Tranque Alfalfal dam in El Cajon del Maipo
about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Santiago.
On their way up the mountain to the dam, "they saw
two balls of light pass over them at a very high speed.
After a few seconds, they saw a third one, but it was
traveling much slower."

Arriving at the dam, Sergio and his friends left
the car and walked to the cliff's edge. "From here they
could see the Rio Maipo 100 meters (330 feet) below.
Then they saw a cigar/egg-shaped UFO about 18 meters
(60 feet) long coming up the river. It was a bright white
color. They heard a very high-pitched tone that clogged
their ears for a while."

As the UFO flew by, the group found themselves
covered by "a strange mist, hot and cold at the same
time." They hurried back to the car and drove down
the mountain.

"On their way to San Jose de Maipo, they encountered
a UFO that was hovering about 800 meters (2,640 feet)
from them. They stopped the car and got out. The UFO
looked like the moon but was slightly smaller and was
white-colored. After five minutes of observation, the UFO
faded away like a cloud or smoke." (Muchas gracias a
Luis Sanchez Perry para esas informaciones.)

TWO BLACK HELICOPTERS
SPOTTED IN CONNECTICUT

On Monday, February 9, 1998, at about 3 p.m.,
Vincent R. was near Railroad Avenue in Greenwich,
Connecticut (population 58,400) when he heard the
distinctive sound of helicopter engines.

Looking up, Vincent saw "two black helicopters
with armor around the windows. They were flying very
low, just over 1,000 feet (300 meters)." He described
the helicopters as "medium size, no antennae" and
"with skids." They were "flying towards Long Island"
along a flight path that would have taken them across
Long Island Sound to Lattingtown, New York.

Greenwich is located on U.S. Route 1 in the
southwestern corner of Connecticut approximately
30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of New York City.
(Email Interview)

from the UFO Files...1942: THE BRENNAN DOGFIGHT

Five years before Roswell, during World War II, a
Bristol Beaufighter of the Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) clashed with a UFO over the Bass Strait,
south of Melbourne, Australia. Here is the pilot's
own account:

"We had orders not long after the Japanese attack
on Darwin (on February 19, 1942--J.T.) to patrol the
Bass Strait where fishermen had reported seeing
mysterious lights on the sea at night."

(Editor's Note: The Allied high command thought
the lights might be from long-range German U-boats
or Japanese I-class submarines.)

"At 5:50 p.m. of a lovely sunny (February) evening,
we were flying some miles east of the Tasman
Peninsula when, of a sudden, there came out of a
cloud bank, a singular airfoil of a glistening bronze
color."

"I'd say it was around 150 feet long and about
50 feet in diameter. It had a sort of beak at its prow,
and the surface seemed burled or rippled or fluted.
On its upper surface was a dome or cupola, from
which I seemed to see reflected flashes as the sun
struck something, which might or might not have
been a helmet, worn by something inside."

At this point, the pilot, Lt. William Brennan,
took his Beaufighter in for a closer look.

"Every now and again there came from its
keel greenish-blue flashes. It turned at a small
angle towards us, and I was amazed to see, framed
in a white circle on the front of the dome, an image
of a large, grinning Cheshire cat."

(Editor's Comment: Cartoon "nose art" was common
on warplanes of World War II. It seems that the
UFOnauts had gotten into the spirit of the times.)

"The damn thing flew parallel to us for some
minutes, then it abruptly turned away and, as it
did so, it showed four things like fins on its belly-
side. It went off at a hell of a pace, turned and
dived straight down into the Pacific, and went under,
throwing up a regular whirlpool of waves! Just as
if it had been a submarine. No, the Japs had
nothing in the amphibian line like that mysterious
bird." (See FLYING SAUCERS UNCENSORED
by Harold T. Wilkins, Citadel Press, New York, NY
1955, pages 224-255.)

FUN UFO WEBSITES:

For a look at the UFO scene in Japan, check out
Mizuki Tamura's new site. Log in at this URL:
http://www.bekkoame.or.jp/~fitzroy/html/ufoe.html

On Saturday, February 14, Ontario ufologist
Jennifer Jarvis launched her new site, ORBWATCH.
Check it out at http://www.per.to/orbwatch/

Our parent site, UFOINFO, has a great new
feature--a whole webpage devoted to the Irish UFO
Research Association (IUFOPRA). For a look at
IUFOPRA's files on sightings and encounters in Eire,
go to http://www.ufoinfo.com/iufopra/files.shtml

Back issues of UFO ROUNDUP are always
available for downloading at our website. Just drop
in at http://www.ufoinfo.com/roundup/

Last week your editor mentioned a site devoted
to underground bases. Several readers have
informed me that the URL for this site-- http://www.budget.net/~harbob/undbases.htm --cannot be
contacted. Readers, please take note.

And that's it for this week. If you come across
a UFO story in your local newspaper, why not clip
it out and send it to our snail-mail address. That's
UFO ROUNDUP, Box 16, 126 Toll Gate Road,
Warwick, Rhode Island, USA 02886.

We'll be back next weekend with more saucer
news from "the paper that goes home--
UFO ROUNDUP." See you then!

UFO ROUNDUP: Copyright 1998 by Masinaigan
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